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Swafford newest former UGA golfer to land on PGA Tour

Two weeks ago, Hudson Swafford had his near-misses hanging over his head.

The former Georgia golfer and 2012 Stadion Classic at UGA champion fell short of earning a PGA Tour card by a couple of shots as a Web.com Tour rookie at Q-school, and last year he fell less than $3,000 short of a card based solely on his earnings.

After a strong performance in the Web.com Tour’s new playoff format — including a season-best T7th at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in late September — Swafford finally had his breakthrough moment and landed in the big leagues by finishing 21st in playoff earnings.

“It’s just surreal getting over that hump, getting into the PGA Tour and running into a bunch of my teammates,” said Swafford, who shot an even-par 71 on Thursday at the season-opening Frys.com Open at San Martin, Calif. “It’s a big first step. This is a goal I’ve had all my life, so to finally get here is nice. I want to be successful here, I want to do well, but the first step was just getting here.”

Swafford wasn’t the only Dog in the hunt after Thursday’s first round. Reigning Stadion Classic champion Brendon Todd is in the field along with fellow recent Web.com Tour graduates Kevin Kisner, Erik Compton and Brian Harman.

Swafford is slated to compete in the season’s first four events, and the rest of his schedule will be decided by how well he does and how that sets him up in the reshuffling.

“The first four events are big because maybe half the guys in my category aren’t in the first four,” Swafford said. “Hopefully I can just play well, get ready for the West Coast tournaments, and if I play well enough or win one, I can just make my own schedule after that.”

That first win would put Swafford in good company with his fellow former Georgia golfers. Two of his former teammates notched their first PGA Tour wins last year. Russell Henley won the Sony Open in Hawaii and Harris English won the FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn.

After paying his dues on the Web.com Tour, Swafford said he’s ready to do what it takes to solidify his status on the PGA Tour, too.

“I had kind of a mediocre year on the Web.com Tour this year, but I played a lot more consistently than the last year, I just didn’t win,” Swafford said. “But I feel like I learned a lot, I went into the new playoff format and played solid. ... I just want to improve and keep playing at this level like those guys.”